The information age has produced an explosion of products for people to enjoy, whether that product is a book, a video or audiocassette, a CD, or DVD, audio and video devices, toys, games, apparel, and accessories. As with other kinds of products manufactured, stored, sold, and enjoyed in large volumes, taking and maintaining an inventory is challenging for both the retailers that market the products as well as the consumers who buy them.
Inventory control systems for products are known in the art. For example, one of the most common ways inventories are maintained for media and other types of products is using barcode scanners. Barcode scanner systems are primarily designed for manufacturers, retailers, and libraries, and entail the use of a barcode that is affixed to the product, after which the product is scanned when it is stocked or returned to circulation and when it is sold or borrowed.
One of the problems with the bar code inventory control systems is that they require manual handling of each product, either when the barcode is affixed to the product, or when it is subsequently scanned. Moreover, once stored, the bar code may not be easily accessible, and the product may again require manual handling. In addition, with conventional inventory systems, a storage bin whose content is unchanged still must be monitored, i.e. the product's bar code must be re-scanned only to find out that there has been no change. This is tedious and labor-intensive work that must be periodically repeated, and represents a significant portion of the cost of maintaining an inventory.